Declining enrollment in North Fork schools may force two girls soccer programs to combine into one. READ
Tag: Gregg Wormuth
Both the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold high school boys and girls lacrosse teams have grown by leaps and bounds over the course of their rather brief histories.
A Mattituck girls soccer game was suspended Tuesday evening following a report of possible gun shots in the neighboring area, school and police officials have confirmed. READ
Mattituck senior Nikki Zurawski, sitting between her parents John and Patricia, signed a national letter of intent for Sacred Heart University. Mattituck coach Malynda Nichol and athletic director Gregg Wormuth also participated in the signing ceremony. (Credit: Garret Meade)
For five years — that’s right, five years — Nikki Zurawski has been a staple of the Mattituck High School girls soccer team. As an eighth-grader, Zurawski was brought onto a powerful Tuckers team. “I was a little munchkin on the team,” she recalled.
But she was a “munchkin” who could play. Zurawski not only played that season, but she started all but one game.
“We were very powerful, and Nikki came up as an eighth-grader and fit right into that team,” Mattituck’s athletic director, Gregg Wormuth, said. “So we knew at that there was something special, that she was going to be a special player for Mattituck.” (more…)
Mattituck fans at Middletown High School for Sunday’s state championship game. (Credit: Michael Lewis)
To the editor:
On behalf of the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District, I would like to formally thank the Mattituck-Cutchogue community for its support of the Mattituck student athletes as they competed this fall. (more…)
Trish Brisotti signed on to accept an athletic scholarship from LIU Post. Joining her in the signing ceremony were, from left, Mattituck athletic director Gregg Wormuth, former Tuckers coach Julie Milliman, and Brisotti’s parents Kerry and David. (Credit: Garret Meade)
Before Trish Brisotti was even a full day old, she already owned her own lacrosse stick, a small plastic one that she still has.
“It was a tradition in my family that when you’re born, you’re presented with your first lacrosse stick,” Brisotti said. “It’s kind of weird.” (more…)
Small roster sizes are nothing new for the high school football team that plays in Greenport. For decades the Porters have had to make do with what they had in terms of low player numbers.
But when the plug was pulled on the remainder of Greenport/Southold/Mattituck’s season on Tuesday, it sent a shock wave through the North Fork, particularly in Greenport, which has a proud tradition in the sport. (more…)
Longtime Mattituck boys tennis coach Mike Huey took over the girls program this fall. He was recently honored as the state coach of the year for boys tennis. (Credit: Garret Meade, file)
The Mattituck High School boys tennis team did quite well for itself this past spring, putting up a 12-4 record and reaching the second round of the Suffolk County Team Tournament. What the Tuckers didn’t know at the time, though, was they were playing for the top boys tennis coach in New York State.
That was the determination of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, which selected Mike Huey as its coach of the year for 2014. (more…)
Jim Christy led Mattituck to a 13-1 record last season, his final with the Tuckers. (Credit: Garret Meade)
One doesn’t need to speak with Jim Christy for long to learn what he is all about.
Just a couple of minutes into a 70-minute interview on Monday, a reporter asked Christy if he knew what his career record as the Mattituck High School girls tennis coach is.
“No,” he answered. “No idea. I never kept track of that kind of stuff.”
The next questions: What about championships? How many of them have you won?
“That’s not something, again, I really paid too close attention to,” he said.
What mattered to Christy more than records, numbers and statistics were the players. He surely coached plenty of them during his time with the Tuckers. (more…)
GARRET MEADE FILE PHOTO | Mattituck pitcher Cameron Burt fired 70 strikeouts in over 59 innings last year for the Tuckers. He signed a letter of intent to play for Queens College.
Cameron Burt was reluctant to put on the Queens College baseball cap that had been placed in front of him. The problem, he said, was the cap was too big for his head.
The cap may not have been a good fit for Burt, but apparently the college is. Burt made Queens College his college of choice, signing a letter of intent to play for the Knights, an NCAA Division II team.
“I love the campus,” the Mattituck High School senior said after a signing ceremony at the school on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s beautiful.”
Burt had also considered St. Thomas Aquinas College (N.Y.).
As part of the deal, Queens College will get a hard-working, talented pitcher, who enjoyed a splendid junior season in which he led the Tuckers to a 15-9 record. The 59-plus innings Burt pitched are the third-most for a single season by a pitcher in Mattituck history, and the 70 strikeouts he recorded rank fifth in team history.
“We couldn’t have ended up where we were without him,” Mattituck coach Steve DeCaro said. “If he’s pitching through five or six innings every time, if he can do that, then that cuts down on the number of relievers that we need, and that also helped us out last year, too.”
Burt went 6-3 with a 1.52 earned run average. The right-hander issued 33 walks and gave up 36 hits. Batters hit a measly .164 against him.
“I think for the number of innings that Cam pitched and the amount of time that he was on the mound, to have that type of ERA is incredible,” Mattituck’s athletic director, Gregg Wormuth, said. “It just shows that he also has longevity.”
Most memorable, perhaps, was a no-hitter that Burt pitched against Center Moriches. He lost the game, 1-0, with a walk and three wild pitches bringing across the game’s only run.
“His record doesn’t really show what he did,” DeCaro said, “even though he had a really good record, but he was the guy pitching against the number one guys in our league, and we had some really good number one guys in our league last year.”
Queens College’s new coach, Chris Reardon, a former pitcher for the Knights, said Burt, one of five recruits, is a “great match” for his team. “We’re very excited to have him coming to Queens College next year,” Reardon said. “For us it was really important as a coaching staff to get players who are able to grow. In Cameron, we see so much talent there that we think he’s just starting to scratch the surface as a pitcher. Three years down the road, with some work, he could be a professional prospect.”
Reardon said Burt has above-average control of three pitches. “I tell you, he could be a good one,” said the coach.
Wormuth, a former catcher for Cortland State, said he would have liked to have caught for Burt. “He’s a pitcher, as opposed to a lot of high school guys who are throwers,” said Wormurth. He added: “I think he’s got really good stuff. He’s got good command on the mound. He’s got good presence on the mound. He understands the game, and I think he’s just going to get better.”
Burt’s ability to mix pitches is an asset, particularly his slurve, which paralyzes right-handed batters. More than a few batters have walked away from the plate, frustrated after seeing Burt’s pitches dance in the air like Wiffle balls.
“No one’s pitch moves quite like Cameron’s,” Mattituck catcher Brian Pelan said. “All his breaking balls, they always just lock up on the knees. They can’t catch on to it.”
Burt, who was an All-League choice last year, has more than a strong arm, though. DeCaro said Burt has a good head on his shoulders, is coachable, open-minded and listens to his pitching coach, Gene Roechler, and Pelan, who calls the pitches. “His progress is just a straight line going right through the roof,” said DeCaro.
A former catcher and reliever before making his way into the starting rotation, Burt is a workhorse with a passion for pitching. “I love it,” he said. The pitching mound, he said, is “the only place on the baseball field where I feel 100 percent comfortable.”
The Tuckers are looking at a good situation. This coming spring they will welcome about 10 pitchers, including three starters — James Nish, Marcos Perivolaris and their ace, Burt.
Burt pitched over the summer and in the fall with the Mattituck Ospreys. He said he is healthy. “I’m getting stronger every day,” he said.
As well as Burt’s junior season went, he said he had an even better summer. “I improved tremendously,” he said.
Burt was joined in the signing ceremony by his parents, Clay and Elizabeth, as well as many of his teammates and friends, some of whom recorded the event with cameras.
Pelan said Burt signing with Queens College is “remarkable. He’s worked as hard as anyone I’ve ever known to get there, so he definitely deserves it.”
Asked how he felt during the ceremony, Burt replied: “It felt good. It felt like I’m ready to do some big things with baseball.”